Dish rack



Feb. 14, 1961v R. M. GETCHELL ErAL 2,971,652

DISH RACK Filed Nov. 3G, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 52 Jura/ms. ,Ease/er M. ge rch/ELL. H5/@ME Ei Jae/6,

Feb. 14, 1961 R. M. GETCHELI. Erm. 2,971,652

DISH RACK Filed Nov. 3o, 195s 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ZWVEA/raps .Has/ser M. @Era-HELL, HQ'QACE Ef. HAE/G,

-supported portion of the edge thereof.

,portion of the edge thereof. support for the dishes is vundesirable since, if the dishes United States Patent() DISH RACK Robert-M. Getchell, Monrovia, and Horace E. Karig,

Pasadena, Calif., assignors to Waste King Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Nov. 30, 1956, Ser. No. 625,434

' 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-41) The present invention relates in general to dishwashers and, more particularly, to a rack for supporting dishes within a dish chamber during washing and rinsing, and preferably drying, of the dishes.

In the usual dishwasher, such dishes as plates, bowls, platters, saucers, and the like, are supported within the dish chamber on edge so that the washing and rinsing fluids sprayed, or otherwise circulated, over the dishes during the washing and rinsing operations may drain freely from the dishes to the bottom of the dish chamber, similar drainage occurring during the ldrying operation. Conventionally, the dishes are held in the desired positions by inserting-them between generally vertical, wire-like dish retaining members, the lower portions of the edges of the dishes resting on supporting members lat the lower ends of the retaining members.

In many conventional dishwashers, the retaining members will not hold dishesrof different concavities securely.

For example, conventional retaining members which will Vhold a relatively at plate or platter on edge securely frequently will permit a highly concave dish, such as a deep bowl, to rock back and forth about the lower,

Similarly, conventional retaining members which are designed to hold a bowl in place securely will permit a relatively tiat plate to rock back and forth about the lower, supported Obviously, such unstable lrock back and forth due to the forces exerted therein Kby the water sprayed thereagainst, for example, the

dishes may strike one another hard enough to break.

l ln the light of the foregoing, a primary object of the h present invention is to provide a dish rack having one or more dish retainers each including dish retaining members capable of holding securely dishes of widely differposed forwardly of such retaining member and the top of al dish located rearwardly thereof, having at its lower end two laterally spaced, axially aligned, generally hori- Azontal portions which are oriented transversely of the Q space between Ythe supporting members and which have -outer ends secured to the supporting members, respecconnected Vat their lower ends to the inner ends of the generally horizontal portions, respectively, having upvvwardly and rearwardly sloping portions connected at their lower ends to the upper ends of the upwardly and Ytively, having upwardly and forwardly sloping portions i 2,971,652 Patented Feb. 14, 1961 ICC forwardly sloping portions, respectively, and having at its upper end a rearwardly offset portion connected to the upper ends of the upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions, respectively.

With the foregoing construction, a relatively flat plate inserted between two of the retaining members rests on the supporting members with the bottom of the dish in engagement with, or in close proximity to, the upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions of one of the retaining members, and with the top of the dish in engagement with, or in close proximity to, the rearwardly offset portion of the other retaining member. Thus, such a relatively at plate is securely held in place between the two retaining members.

On the other hand, a relatively concave dish, such as a bowl, rests on the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions of one of the retaining members, instead of on the supporting members as in the case of a at plate,

the bottom of the bowl being in engagement with, or

in close proximity to, the upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions of the other retaining member of the pair between which the bowl is inserted, and the top of the bowl being in engagement with, or in close proximity to, the rearwardly offset portion of the retaining member on the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions of which the bowl rests. The greater the concavity of the bowl, the higher up it rests on the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions of the retaining member behind which it is disposed, relatively shallow bowls resting on the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions of such retaining member relatively near the supporting members, and relatively deep Ybowls resting on the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions of such retaining member adjacent the upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions thereof. Thus, the retaining members of the invention hold bowls of different concavities, as well as relatively at plates, securely, which is an important feature o'f the invention.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dish retaining member of the foregoing nature wherein vthe upwardly and forwardly sloping portions converge upwardly to the upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions, and wherein the latter portions converge upwardly to the rearwardly offset portion, thereby poviding retaining members which are generally triangular in front and rear elevation so that dishes of various shapes may be inserted therebetween readily.

Another object is to provide a dish retaining member of the foregoing nature wherein the upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions are forwardly concave to com plement the concavities of dishes disposed thereadjacent.

Another object is to provide a dish retaining member of the character described wherein the rearwardly offset portion is generallyV horizontal and forwardly concave for the top surface of a dish disposed behind such retaining member.

Another object of the invention is to provide a retaining member of the foregoing character which is of onepiece construction.

Still another object is to provide a lower dish rack having dish retaining members of the foregoing nature which hold dishes at such angles that water sprayed upwardly and outwardly into the lower dish rack in a divergent conical pattern is deflected by the dishes in the lower dish rack upwardly and inwardly into cups, glasses, and the like, in an upper dish rack thereabove.

Yet another object is to provide a lower dish rack which holds the dishes at angles such that the upwardly divergent water spray mentioned impinges on the-top or soiled surfaces of the dishes at angles between 5 and 15. This insures effective cleansing of the top surfaces vof the dishes in the lower rack while insuring deflection Y of the water upwardly against articles in the upper rack with a minimum of interference by dishes in the lower rack because of the fact that the horizontal projected areas of the dishes in the lower rack are minimized. For lthe same reason, interference of the dishes in the lower rack with each other as respects the water spray is minimized.

A further object of the invention is to provide a dish rack which includes a basket having sides comprising interconnected, generally horizontal and generally vertical Ymembers and having a bottom comprising the supporting members hereinbefore mentioned arranged in pairs extending radially inwardly from the sides of the basket,

cludes generally horizontal, radially spaced, concentric, lcircular members interconnecting the supporting members of the radially arranged pairs. The foregoing provides a simple, compact basket strucvture which may be manufactured readily, this being an important feature.

Another object is to provide a dish rack comprising a `basket having pairs of widely spaced, generally parallel members and narrowly spaced, generally parallel members, roller supports for the dish rack being clamped to the pairs of narrowly spaced members.

The foregoing objects, advantages, features and results of the present invention, together with various other objects, advantages, features and results thereof which .will be apparent to those skilled in the dish rack art in the light of this disclosure, may be attained with the 'exemplary embodiments of the invention described hereinafter and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a dishwasher which embodies-the dish rack of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational View of the dishwasher;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of one embodiment of the dish rack of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the arrowed j line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

iFig. 5 is a further enlarged, perspective view of a dish retaming member incorporated in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of another embodiment of a dish rack of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken valong the arrowed line 7-7 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a further enlarged, perspective view of a dish retaining member incorporated kin the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings.

Referring to Figs. l and 2 ofthe drawings, the numeral '10 designates a dishwasher which includes a dishV chamlber 12 w1th1n a cabinet 14, access to the interior of the dish chamber 12 being had through a doorway 16 adapted vto be closed by a door 18. Dishes to be washed and rinsed, and preferably dried, within the dish chamber 12 ,are supported therein on a dish rack 20 and on a dish 4rack 22, the former being intended primarily to support such dishes as plates, platters, bowls, saucers, and the Y' like, and constituting the present invention.

When the dishwasher 10 is in operation, washing and rinsing fluids are circulated over dishes carried by the dish rack 20 of the invention, and by the dish rack 22, by means of an impeller 24 located within the dish cham- `ber 12 below the dish rack. While this impeller may be of any suitable type, it is shown as of the reaction type, ,being supplied with washing uid or rinsing ud from the bottom of the dish chamber 12 by a pump 26 driven by a motor 28, the inlet of the pump communicating with the bottom of the dish chamber and the outlet thereof communicating with the impeller.

Turning now to Figs. 3 to 5 of the drawings, the dish rack 2.4i comprises a basket 30 having sides composed of generally horizontal, wire-like members 32 and generally vertical, wire-like members 34 interconnected at their intersections by welding, or otherwise. The bottom of the basket 30 comprises generally horizontal, radially spaced, concentric, circular members 36 and radially extending pairs 38 and 40 of generally parallel, generally horizontal, laterally spaced'supporting members 42, these supporting members being secured to the circular members 36 at the points of intersection therewith by welding, or otherwise. Each supporting member 42 is formed integrally at its outer end with the lower end of one of the generally vertical members 340i one of the sides of the basket 30 to simplify construction by reducing the number of parts. The supporting members 42 of the pairs 38 extend radially inwardly only to an intermediate one of the circular members 36, while the supporting members 42 of the pairs 40 extend radially inwardly of the intermost of the circular members. The supporting members 42 of the pairs 40 are joined at their inner ends by integral, upwardlyk and inwardly sloping portions 44 which are generally triangular in elevation, as best shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. A relatively large container to be washed may be placed over the portions 44 in an inverted position.

The supporting members 42 of certain of the pairs 38 and 40 are provided with dish retaining members 46 to form dish retainers 48. The supporting members 42 of the remaining pairs are not provided with dish retaining members in the particular construction illustrated, the spaces above the bottom of the basket in thevicinities of these pairs being utilized to support tableware baskets, now shown. However, it will be understood that such pairs ofy the supporting members 42 may also be provided with retaining members 46 if desired.

Each of the dish retainers 48 includes a plurality of the retaining members 46, these retaining members being generally vertical, wire-like, one-piece members extending generally transversely of and spanning the space between the supporting members 42 of such dish retainer and spaced apart longitudinally of such supporting members. Each retaining member 46 includes at its lower end two laterally spaced, axially aligned, generally horizontal portions 50 which are oriented transversely of the space between the corresponding supporting members 42 and which have outer ends'secured to such supporting members, respectively, as by welding. Each retaining member 46 includes upwardly and forwardly sloping, upwardly converging portions 52 connected at their lower ends to the inner ends of the generally horizontal portions 50, respectively, each retaining memberbeing regarded as having a forward side facing radially inwardly of the basket and a 'rearward side facingradially outwardly thereof so that the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions 52 slope upwardly and inwardly relative to the basket. Each retaining member 46 also includes two arcuate, forwardly concave, i.e., inwardly concave, upwardly converging, and upwardly and rearwardly sloping, i.e., upwardly and outwardly sloping, portions 54 connected at their lower ends to the upper ends of the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions 52, respectively. Each of the retaining members 46 is provided at its upper end with a generally horizontal, arcuate, forwardly concave, i.e., inwardly concave, rearwardly offset, outwardly offset portion 56 connected at its ends to the upper ends of the upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions 54, respectively.

The particular conguration for the retaining members 46 hereinbefore described enables these retaining members to hold securely dishes of widely ditferent conasv-ages cavities, as will now-be described. Referring to Fig. 4 of the drawings, a relatively flat plate 58 is shown inserted between two of the retaining members 46, identied by the reference characters 46a and 46b for con- 'venience As will be noted, the lower portion of the edge of the plate 58 is seated on the corresponding supporting members 42, thereby providing two-point vertical support for the plate. The bottom of the plate 58 is seated against, or is at least in close proximity to, the upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions 54 of the retaining member 46a, while the top surface of the plate is seated against, or is at least in close proximity to, the rearwardly offset portion 56 of the retaining member 46b, thereby securely holding the plate against fore and aft rocking movement.

A bowl 60 is shown inserted between the retaining member 46b and a retaining member 46c, the greater concavity of the bowl, as compared to the plate 58, resulting in seating of the lower portion of the edge thereof on the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions 52 of the retaining member 46c, instead of on the supporting members 42. Again, the bottom of the bowl 60 is seated against, or is at least in close proximity to, the upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions 54 of the retaining member 46b, and the top or upper surface of the bowl is seated against, or is at least in close proximity to, the rearwardly offset portion 56 of the retaining member 46c. Thus, as a result of the provision of the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions 52 and the rearwardly offset portion 56, the bowl 60 is held in place just as securely as the plate 58, which is an important feature of the invention.

The numeral 62 designates an even deeper bowl which is inserted between retaining members 46d and 46e, the relationship between the bowl 62 and the retaining members 46d and 46e being the same as the relationship between the shallower bowl 60 and the retaining members 46b and 46c, except that the lower portion of the edge of the deeper bowl 62 rests higher up on the upwardly and forwardly sloping portions 52 of the retaining member 46d. Thus, despite the greater depth of the bowl 62, it is held in place between the retaining members 46d and 46e just as securely as the shallower bowl 60 is held in place between the retaining members 46b and 46c, and just as securely as the relatively flat plate 58 is held in place between the retaining members 46a and 46b.

Thus, it will be apparent from Fig. 4 of the drawings. and from the foregoing description that the particular retaining-member configuration described is instrumental in enabling the retaining members 46 to hold with equal stability or security dishes of widely different concavitics, there being little or no back and forth, i.e., radially in and out, rocking movement of dishes having any of the configuration shown. Consequently, the retaining members 46 accommodate a wide variety of dish configurations, which is an important feature of the invention.

The impeller 24 directs a spray upwardly and outwardly into the lower dish rack 20 in a divergent conical pattern and the described dish retaining members 46, and particularly the rearwardly offset portions 56 thereof, so position the dishes, such as the dishes 58, 60 and 62, that the spray impinges on the top or soiled surfaces of these dishes at angles between 5" and 15 for eicient cleansing while minimizing interference of these dishes with the spray. This insures that the dishes in the lower rack 20 will not interfere with each other as respects impingement thereon by the water spray, and also causes these dishes to deect the spray upwardly and inwardly into cups, glasses, and the like, carried by the upper dish rack 22 in inverted positions for etiicient cleansing thereof, which is an important feature.

The dish rack 20 is intended to be moved forwardly through the doorway 16 and at least partially out of the dish chamber 12 for convenience in loading dishes thereinto, the dish rack Ztlbeing provided with rollers 64 and 66 for this purpose. Theserollers cooperate with tracks in a manner which is not essential to the consideration of the present invention but which is disclosed and claimed in the co-pending application of Walter Peglow, Serial No. 631,152, filed December 28, 1956, now U.S. Patent No. 2,918,341, granted December 22, 1959 and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The present invention is, however, concerned with the manner in which the rollers 64 and 66 are mounted on the basket 30 of the dish rack 20.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the basket 30 includes narrowly-spaced generally vertical members 68 some of which are formed by certain of the more widely-spaced generally vertical members 34, the rollers 64 being secured to the generally vertical members 68 by clamps 70. The spacing between the generally vertical members 68 to which the rollers 64 are secured by the clamps 70 is considerably less than the spacing between the remaining generally vertical members 34 to minimize the size of the clamps 70. Similarly, the rollers 66 are mounted by means of clamps 72 engaging members 74 disposed in closely spaced, substantially parallel relation, the members 74 of each pair are shown as interconnected and as spanning the space between and being connected to the two supporting Vmembers 42 of one of the pairs 38.

Referring to Figs. 6, 7 and 8 of the drawings, illustrated therein is a dish rack which is similar to the dish rack 20 so that identical reference numerals are utilized insofar as applicable. The dish rack 80 differs in that certain of the dish retainers 4S include dish retaining members 82 designed especially for the reception of relatively at plates only, others of the dish retainers utilizing the more universally applicable retaining members 46 hereinbefore described, As will become apparent, the retaining members 82 are of simpler contigluration than the retaining members 46 so that the dish rack 80 is somewhat simpler to'manufacture. Enough of the universal retaining members 46 are provided, however, to handle -a normal complement of relatively deep dishes.

As best shown in Fig. S of the drawings, each retaining member 82 includes generally horizontal portions 84 corresponding to the generally horizontal portions 50 of the retaining members 46 and secured to the corresponding supporting members 42. However, each retaining member 82 includes. in addition to the generally horizontal portions 84, only a relatively plane loop 86 which slopes upwardly and rearwardly to a rounded apex.

It will be understood that the various members forming the dish racks described may be coated with a suit` able material to protect dishes placed therein, the coating preferably being applied after the various members are welded, or otherwise secured together.

Although exemplary embodiments of the invention have been disclosed herein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that various changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in such embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claim.

We claim as our invention:

A dish retaining member having forward and rearward sides respectively engageable with the bottom of a dish disposed forwardly of such retaining member and the top of a dish located rearwardly thereof, said retaining member having adjacent its lower end two upwardly and forwardly sloping, upwardly converging portions, said retaining member having arcuate, forwardly concave, upwardly converging, and upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions connected at their lower ends to the upper ends of said upwardly and forwardly slop ing portions, respectively, said retaining member having at its upper end a generally horizontal, arcuate, for wardly concave, rearwardly offset portion connected at its ends to the upper ends of said upwardly and rearwardly sloping portions, respectively.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 Fuhrmann May 14, 1918 Anthony Jan. 15, 1924 Andrews Aug. 28, 1928 Ryerson Nov. 13, 1928 l0 Buck July 30, 1929 Y 1,995,331 2,032,156 V2,440,507Y 2,552,852 Y 2,654,377 Y 2,657,697

8 Pauly Oct. 25, Snyder et al. Mar. 26, w Stoddardy 5.----- Feb. 25, VGeralds V- Apr. 27, Idle May 15, Sway Oct. 6, Walker Nov. 3, James Oct. 25, Stoddard Mar. 20, Planeta Mar. 27, Barefoot May 29, 

